This is Not a Test
by Asori
Summary: A certain young bionic yearns to be a bionic hero like his mentors, but when he takes another shot at completing a mission, he learns that it isn't a test: it's the real thing.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey peeps, Asori here! I'm back with a two-shot featuring a character who gets a little love here on Fanfiction but doesn't get a whole lot of love on the** ** _Lab Rats_** **TV show, and his adventure here in this story is somewhat based on the song** **_This is Not a Test_** **by TobyMac. I encourage you to check out this amazing song as you read this story (especially during the second part), and I hope you enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own** ** _Lab Rats_** **or any of the characters, just the plot.**

* * *

 _"Congratulations, you have graduated from level red to being a full bionic hero. Make us proud." Mr. Davenport looked on to the students gathered around him, a bright smile that showed off his white teeth plastered on his face._

 _Spin beamed up at the creator of the academy, pride for his achievement swelling within him. His dream had finally come true - he was a real bionic hero at last._

 _"I did it," he sighed happily, and he knew that nothing could rain on his happiness, nothing at all._

"Spin!" The small boy was rudely yanked back to the present, and he saw Bob standing directly in front of him, knocking on the glass of his capsule.

Except Bob. "What, Bob?" Spin asked irritably.

"You did what?" Bob asked curiously.

"What? What do you mean?"

"You kept saying that you did it. What did you do?"

Spin blinked, and he realized what Bob was talking about. "I graduated from this place and became a real hero like Adam, Bree, and Chase. And Leo, I suppose." He was tempted to amend what he had said - Leo didn't really count, did he?

"You did?" Bob asked, his eyes wide. "Cool! When did that happen? How did you do it?"

Spin's lip lifted in disgust as he glanced down at his green-sleeved uniform. "I didn't."

Bob frowned. "Then why did you say that you did?"

"It was just a dream..." _Dang it,_ he thought sadly.

"Oh. Well, I dreamt about a catfish that was farting rainbow clouds. They smelled like burritos!"

Spin rolled his eyes, shaking his head with exasperation. How was it that Bob became his best friend again?

After heaving a single full breath, Spin opened the door of his capsule and stepped out so that he was standing next to Bob. "Come on Bob, let's go get some breakfast."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Bob said with a hearty grin of excitement. The two boys ambled down the hallway at an easy pace, much like many of the other students of the academy. Spin was looking out one of the many windows when he heard shouting, and startled, he turned quickly to slide to the side of the hallway to let Adam, Bree, and Chase run past as they adjusted their mission suits.

Spin drunk in the sight of those mission suits, envy and determination building up within him. While the mentors might be far larger, older, wiser, more knowledgeable, and more skilled, he doubted that he had any less courage than they did - and that's what really counted, right?

If he could prove how brave he was, maybe he could wear one of those suits and all the glory and praise that came with it. He could become somebody, he could make a name for himself. But to do that, he would need to get in on the action.

Spin knew what he needed to do. And this time he wouldn't bring Bob along to mess it up. This time it would work.

"Hey Bob, you know, I'm not feeling great," Spin said, letting a pained expression flash across his facial features. "Go on to breakfast without me, I'll catch up with you when I feel better."

"You don't want your morning protein bar?" Bob asked.

"Who does?"

"I would!"

"Only you, Bob."

"Hey, a growing boy like me needs to eat something!"

"Bob, you're not growing."

"How would you know?"

"We'd _all_ know if you were growing."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Bye, Bob!" Spin groaned, turning and leaving before the argument could continue.

"Bye Spin!" Bob called after his friend. "And for the record, you wouldn't know unless you went inside my capsule!"

Spin shuddered, deciding not to respond. He made his way back down the hallway, but instead of turning down the hallway to the student quarters, he kept going until he reached the room with the Mission Alert System. After checking to make sure that no one was watching, he slipped inside.

"Now I just need to wait for a mission to come up," Spin mumbled quietly, sitting down cross-legged on the floor. He stared up at the holographic screen studying the information presented, but before long he began growing bored. Minute ticked by after painfully long minute, and still no mission alerts came. Growing anxious, the young bionic wondered how long it would be before he was discovered.

His heart leapt to his throat as he heard voices approaching, and he scrambled behind one of the cyber-desks in the room, holding his breath. Peeking around the corner, he saw that it was Mr. Davenport and - ugh - Leo entering.

"...long before they can go on another mission?" Leo was asking.

"I don't know, but for the next few days, they won't be doing _anything,_ " Mr. Davenport replied somberly.

"Not even teaching?" Leo questioned.

"No, definitely not."

"But they will be alright, won't they?"

"Yes, they just need time."

Leo turned away with a heavy sigh, his hands on his hips and his head down-turned with worry. There was a pause of silence as Mr. Davenport typed on the cyber-desk, Spin avidly watching him to see what he was doing. What were they talking about? If he was right, something must have happened to Adam, Bree, and Chase. He wondered what it was that had happened, and he hoped that they would be okay.

After a few minutes, Mr. Davenport hit his last keystroke before standing up, saying to Leo "There, now all of the mission alerts should be routed to your phone. Pick the best students to go with you, or have Douglas and I go with you. Just as long as the missions can be done until your siblings are better."

Hope and excitement rose within Spin; if he could get ahold of that phone, he would get his chance to show them what he was really made of. He would get the chance to be a real hero.

As the two older people left the room, Spin snuck out after them, following Leo to the infirmary. When the door closed behind the older boy, the young bionic padded up to the door and tried to peer into the room, but there was a light curtain covering the window. He sighed; his curiosity would have to be sated at a later time.

With that, Spin began meandering through the nearby halls, keeping his eyes and ears peeled for any sign of Leo. He walked many circles before the older bionic finally came forth from visiting the old _est_ bionics, and keeping his head down and staying out of the way, the young bionic trailed his target.

Spin stopped with a sigh when Leo went into the boys bathroom. But as he studied the closed door, an idea struck him. _Time to test my pick-pocketing skills._

Several long minutes and a couple false alarms later, Spin leapt forward as the door opened, crashing right into Leo. His hand found Leo's phone as he grabbed the older boy to maintain his balance before tumbling backwards anyways.

"Hey! Spin!" Leo exclaimed, steadying himself. "I know you're fast and whatever, but you need to watch where you're going." With a huff, Leo stepped over the younger boy and continued on his way.

"I _was_ watching where I was going," Spin quietly muttered with annoyance before a sly smirk briefly graced his features as he fingered Leo's phone in its protective case underneath him. Preliminary mission accomplished.


	2. Chapter 2

_Beep! Beep! Beep!_

"A mission alert!" Spin gasped, his eyes snapping open. He bent down and grabbed Leo's phone from the floor of his capsule, studying the screen. Disappointment washed over him. "Ughhh, just another message from Janelle," he groaned. "Why did Leo set that as her ringtone?"

 _Probably because when Janelle texts him, he's in trouble if he doesn't answer,_ a small voice in Spin's mind answered. He couldn't help his grin of sly amusement.

He was about to set the phone down anid go back to sleep when the alarm on it went off again, this time persisting. Spin's eyes widened as he read the header: _MISSION ALERT_. The young boy swiped the screen to reveal the details of the mission; there was a mining shaft that had collapsed, trapping many miners inside. It was still unstable and could collapse further at any time, killing what minors had survived the initial collapse. The boy gulped. All of a sudden missions didn't seem so easy anymore.

 _I'm not going to ask for help, though,_ Spin thought to himself adamantly. _I'd have to tell people that I 'borrowed' Leo's phone and went on a mission even though I'm not allowed to go on any._ Then a thought struck him. _I'll still have to tell them, but if I succeed, they won't care. They shouldn't care._

 _I have to do this. It's now or never._

Spin closed his eyes, taking a few controlled breaths in and out of his nose. When he was certain that he had worked up enough courage, he stepped out of his capsule and padded out of the student quarters, careful not to wake anyone. After many glances around at his surroundings and assuring himself the coast was clear of a negligent Perry, he held his breath and geo-leaped to the location of the mine.

Spin simply stood there with his eyes squeezed shut and his fists clenched for nearly a minute, afraid of what he would see. Shouting in the near distance finally convinced him to face his present situation, and he opened his eyes. What he saw were bright lights casting out the darkness of the night all around. Large white beams, flashing red and blue lights, and flickering light from blazing fires illuminated a caved-in entrance into the side of a mountain. The distorted hole belched thick black smoke, orange tongues of fire licking the crisp ten-o-clock-at-night air. The young bionic gulped. _This is not a test._

People milled about, keeping a safe distance from the mine. Some rushed about frantically while others shouted over the dull roar of the fire, pointed to various places to demonstrate what they were trying to communicate, and consulted sources of information such as maps and equipment. The scene was chaos.

 _I've gotta get in there - I've gotta go be a hero,_ Spin told himself forcefully. Despite his fear and having no good idea of what he was going to do, he sprinted up to the small crowd of people, pushing his way over to a group of police officers who were arguing over a flashlight-lit map on the hood of one of their cars. "Excuse me!" Spin cried out. "Excuse me!"

When he was ignored by the adults, Spin let his urgency-fueled frustration explode out of him. "HEY!" Spin yelled, stopping the officers mid-sentence. "Where in the mine are the miners?" the bionic demanded.

"Kid, what are you doing here?" an officer questioned with annoyance and worry. "This area isn't safe - go back to your parents and let the adults take care of this!"

"No, I'm a bionic hero!" Spin protested.

A few of the officers chuckled, one of them saying "I'm sure you are, buddy, but shouldn't a bionic hero like you be looking after your mom and dad?"

"I'm not pretending!" Spin said angrily. "I'll show you!" With that, he twisted himself up and let his spinning rip loose, giving the police officers an impressive display as he tornadoed his way around them. When he came to a stop, he was pleased to see their looks of shock and intimidation. "See? Now tell me where the minors are trapped!"

One of them blinked out of his stupor, saying "They were spread throughout the mine but coming to the main shaft for the end of their shift. We can't tell you more than that."

"Yes we can," another officer interjected. She pointed to several different locations on the map, saying "This is where we think the main collapse happened, and these sects are probably extremely unstable."

"Thanks!" Spin said, and he turned to confront his duty when he was stopped by a policeman's hand on his shoulder.

"Are you sure you're qualified for this, kid?" the man asked.

"I have to be," Spin stated simply. With that said, he sprinted to the entrance before anything - within his mind and without - could hinder his mission. He just needed to dive in head-first. _Not literally,_ he clarified. _Now that would just be stupid._

He arrived within feet of the entrance, covering his mouth and nose with his elbow as he squinted through the stinging smoke. There wasn't much to see.

"Okay, what do I do now?" Spin wondered aloud between small coughs. "I need to get in there!"

He walked back and forth for a couple of minutes, the gears in his mind whirring. Then it struck him. "I'll spin and make myself like a drill!"

Choosing a spot far enough from the main entrance that appeared fairly sturdy (as far as he knew), he positioned himself and let the world turn into a crazed blur of lights streaking the darkness. Just as he had in the Academy when it was unstable, he let his feet dig into the ground, barely feeling the rocks that cracked and shattered around his feet.

It was mere moments before there was suddenly no more rock beneath him. He fell through his hole and tumbled to the hard rock floor of a tunnel, simply lying there for a moment. _Ouch,_ he thought, sorely standing up and rubbing his jarred elbow and smarting hip.

 _Now what?_ he asked himself. Taking a deep breath, he calmed his racing mind and focused on what his ears could pick up. To his left, front, and behind was dark silence save for haunting echos ricocheting off the rough walls, but to his right came fresh sounds of crackling, thunderous booms, and chilling screams and shouts of desperation. Spin shivered.

He turned and began tentatively walking through the darkness in the direction of the cries for help when without warning, he found himself sprawled on the ground with fresh bruises. _How can I get to them in time if I can't see?_ Spin thought, fear of drastic outcomes coursing through him.

 _If only I had night vision, thermal vision, or at least a flashlight..._ His eyes grew wide as an idea hit him. Leo's phone! It had a flashlight! He dug Leo's phone out of his pocket, turning on the screen. Swiping the option for a flashlight, he aimed the white beam towards the ground so that he could avoid tripping again. Being able to see, he could now move much more quickly.

As the light flitted across the jagged surfaces all around him, the darkness slithered close behind. The deep rumbling from ahead only made his surroundings all the more frightening, making them out to be as if they were the throat of some enormous monster, and Spin was crawling his way down to its beastly belly. The terrified screams dancing all around him only made his approaching doom less and less as if it were simply a trick of his mind, the poisoning of fear.

 _Stop it, Spin!_ he commanded himself. _There's no time to be a baby!_ Setting his jaw stubbornly, he picked up his pace so that he was going at a fast jog, focusing all of his attention on avoiding obstacles so that he didn't have to think about his fear.

Before long, a deep red glow pervaded the black, and as he drew near, it turned to a dark orange, then a light orange - the glow was both warm and equally foreboding. The light twisted and bounced on the walls, giving the rocks a strange life. Little creatures of darkness seemed to skip and hop from shadow to shadow before disappearing entirely. Spin was attempting to ignore this phenomenon when he met his first miner.

"Who's there?" a gruff voice nearby pierced the air. Spin jumped, whipping around to see a miner huddled in an indent in the wall, his hands on an unconscious - Spin refused to think of the alternative - comrade.

"I-I'm a bionic hero - I came to help!" Spin replied nervously.

The man barked a hopeless laugh. "What can a little guy like you do?"

"I can save you," Spin replied, his offended ego giving him a little more confidence.

"How?"

"Follow me - I made a way out!" He took off, choosing not to wait for the miner to argue. After a few moments, he glanced backwards to see that the man was following a little ways back, carrying his comrade across his shoulders.

After what seemed like forever of walking and scouring the ceiling with the phone light, Spin pointed upwards, saying "Here's the hole - this is your way out!"

The man looked up. "How in the blazes am I supposed to get up there?"

Spin frowned, swallowing nervously. He hadn't thought that far ahead. "Does your helmet light still work?"

"Yeah, it does," the miner grunted.

"Can you just stay here, with your light on? I'm going to bring more people here and out of danger, and then we can figure it out."

"Alright," the man said, turning away and bending over to check on his friend.

Knowing that his effort was now needed elsewhere, Spin took off back towards where he knew the distant glow to appear. A new urgency pumped through his veins, and he found a speed he never knew he possessed.

"Help! Is someone there? Help!" a cry shook the bionic from his single-minded mission. He stopped, looking around. The voice came again, and Spin followed it to its source; the source was a young man with his arm trapped underneath a boulder. Even in the near darkness, Spin could see that the arm was twisted in a way an arm should never go. The small boy felt nausea rise within him.

"Oh my gosh, mister, you need help!" Spin cried out, racing over.

"Yeah, I do," the man replied shakily. "But what can you do?"

"I'm a bionic hero - I can do _something,_ " Spin replied with determination. He sized up the situation, and an idea hit him. "Okay, this might hurt, but I think it will work," the bionic said gently.

An intake of air was heard from the man, and a moment later he said "Do what you have to." His tone was filled with dread.

Spin nodded, climbing up onto the boulder. Without a second thought, he spun into the rock, stopping three-fourths of the way through and pulling himself out again. He stood in another spot and repeated the procedure before doing it again, and again. After climbing out the last time, he began kicking the rock, using his enhanced strength to break apart the already fragile boulder. Chunks of the rock crumbled away, simply leaving a much smaller piece that wasn't so daunting. Spin and the teeth-clenching miner worked together to shove off the last piece, ignoring the sound of stone scraping and kneading flesh and bone.

"Ahhh," the man gasped in pain as his arm was freed, and he sat up. "Thanks," he groaned.

Spin only nodded again, standing up straight. He grabbed the miner's good arm and pulled him up, saying "We have to get you to safety - follow me!" The two made their way back through the cave until the other miner's light was spotted. At this point Spin stopped, saying "Go to that light there, it's under the way out. I have to go help others, but we will figure out how to escape."

"Alright," the man said, carefully making his way to do as he was told. He held his arm tenderly as he hobbled along.

Spin turned and ran back down the passage, thinking to himself _There has to be a faster way to do this!_

He was getting close to the flickering light and choking smoke when he stumbled upon a group of eight or nine miners. They were coughing, crying, and yelling to each other, urging each other to safety. Chaos rampaged among the group.

Spin saw this, and he knew that to get them to where the others were, he would need to command their attention. "HEY!" he yelled as loudly as he could. Nearly everyone fell silent, looking for the person responsible. "Everyone follow me - I know a way out of here!" he shouted.

"Who the heck are you?" the woman closest to him asked dubiously.

"I'm Spin, a bionic hero from the Davenport Bionic Academy!" Spin answered, his chest swelling with pride. He finally felt confident in saying so. "I can help you - we just have to follow this passage way until we reach the light from the other miners." He began walking towards his hole, and looking back, he saw many of them reluctantly following him. While he was only a kid, he was the only hope they had.

They were nearing their destination when a small group of people came running up, and both Spin's group and the newcomers stopped. Spin's eyes widened when he saw who it was.

"Spin?!" Leo and Mr. Davenport exclaimed simultaneously. The four other level-red bionic students present and Douglas looked equally surprised.

"Mr. Davenport! Leo, Douglas..." Spin trailed off uneasily. "Coming to help the miners too?"

"You took my phone, didn't you? You little weasel!" Leo cried out.

"Not the time, Leo," Mr. Davenport snapped. "Douglas, take the other five with you to get these miners to the hole and find others in danger. Spin, you're coming with me."

The others nodded, doing as they were told and getting the rescue moving again. Spin hung his head as Mr. Davenport pulled him off to the side, crouching down and shining a light between them. "Spin, what were you thinking? You aren't authorized to go on any missions yet! And this one is very dangerous - you're lucky you weren't killed!"

"But I had to help these people!" Spin argued.

"You could have killed them too! You're lucky we came when we did! That's why Leo needed to know about the mission, _not you._ Why did you sneak off on this mission?"

"I wanted to prove to you guys that I could do it! I'm not a baby, I'm a bionic hero!"

"A bionic hero _in training,_ " Mr. Davenport said sternly.

Spin pursed his lips. "How did you know about the mission? How did you find us?"

"I get the mission alerts on my phone as well. We didn't get here sooner because we had to assemble a team and figure out a plan. When we got here, we were looking for a safe entrance when we saw a light coming through your hole - the miners below it were very smart to use their lights as a signal to those of us above ground."

"Oh," Spin said.

Mr. Davenport stared into Spin's dejected face cast in shadows, and he softened. "Look, Spin, you did good work today, but it's clear that you still have a lot to learn. For example, you help the people in the most danger first, _then_ the other people. The people closest to the initial collapse needed your attention the most. Also, you got in, but how were you planning on getting people out? Spin, this wasn't a test. Failing would have had severe consequences."

Spin hung his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Davenport."

Mr. Davenport smiled, saying "You did help a lot of people today, and you proved that you are very brave and persistent. When you complete your training, I know that you will be a fine bionic hero."

"Really?" Spin asked.

"Really. I'm proud to have you as a student."

* * *

 **AN: And this concludes this little story! Even if it was only, like, four-thousand(ish) words long, it took me four months to write T_T I started it, lost inspiration, and then finally cracked down on myself to finish this so that I could post _something_ for the month of November. I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **Oh, and for those of you wondering what happened to Adam, Bree, and Chase... I honestly didn't know as I was writing this story, but now that y'all have asked, I have come up with this: an electric grid was misbehaving, and they had to get people out of there and figure out how to make it safe again. In the course of making it safe, Chase hadn't had access to all of the factors at play and thus his calculations were off, so as the three of them were working together, they were electrocuted. Their mission was a success, but their bionic systems were all out of whack and they needed time for their systems to reboot and heal. They're okay! No worries! (If any of you writers want to use this idea in a story of yours, go for it!)**

 **Spike story update: Yes, it's coming, I promise! I haven't had any time to write, and yet I still managed to write five chapters in the last two weeks - more than September and October combined! Which is a miracle for me. Let's just say I've dug myself a hole in life, and now I have to get out somehow... But you writers out there know how it goes - when inspiration strikes, you really can't function unless you just _do_ it. I'm glad I did :S Now, _the question._... I can only say that I am in the last third of the story, but whether I have more or less than that to write is unknown - the characters are taking this one into their own hands, and man are you in for a ride! Hopefully I can get it posted by my one-year anniversary of becoming involved on this site again and posting my first _Lab Rats_ story, _Spiked Out_. Thank you everyone for both your excitement and patience!**

 **Even if this is merely a two-shot, I can't neglect thanking those awesome people who have favorited and followed this! A special shout out to EmeraldTulip, girlface187, LovelyInspiration, PurpleNicole531, Sodaluv8, and Stardust16 for reviewing! You all are amazing :D**

 **Well, that's it for now - Asori out.**


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